Private Plane Crashes Off Course in W.Va

[Rose Siding]

WINFIELD, W.Va. -- A private plane crashed near a rural home in West Virginia after straying hundreds of miles off course as National Guard fighter crews tried unsuccessfully to contact the pilot.
....
Air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane after it "overflew its destination," she said.

The pilots of F-16s based in Wisconsin intercepted the plane near Madison, Wis., and tracked it to Michigan, where it was picked up by pilots of two F-16s based near Detroit.
....
"Our aircraft had the civilian aircraft in sight when it abruptly began to descend," said Staff Sgt. Dan Heaton of Michigan's 127th Air National Guard unit.
....
The crash was reminiscent of a 1999 charter jet crash that killed pro golfer Payne Stewart and four others. That plane flew halfway across the country on autopilot before crashing in a pasture in South Dakota. Everyone on board had apparently lost consciousness for lack of oxygen after a loss of cabin pressure, and the plane crashed after it ran out of fuel, investigators said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/18/AR2006031800672.html

[snappyturtle]

1. With the Senate on...

vacation and being from Minnesota I can't help but wonder who was aboard? Sorry,I can't help but think of news items like this without my tinfoil hat.

[stillcool]

2. I'm right there with you....

amazing times we live in...

[snappyturtle]

3. oh, good!

Maybe I'm not completely warped---yet!

[LibinMo]

4. Payne Stewart was from my home town

His mother(now deceased) still lived here. That situation was on the news for hours. I felt so sorry for her and the rest of the family.

My prayers go out to the family of the passengers & crew of the W. Va crash.

[jus_the_facts]

5. Isn't it amazing how F-16's intercepted this plane and Payne Stewarts....

....but NOT ONE INTERCEPTED THE COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT ON 9/11. :think:

[PuraVidaDreamin]

7. pretty darn amazing

and quick on the pick up there too jt

[Whoa_Nelly]

6. A little more info now

Short blurb from this site:
http://www.kpax.com/Global/story.asp?S=4650097

<snip>
No one on the ground was injured, but the pilot was killed. The pilot was the only person on the plane.

Authorities haven't released the pilot's name, but the 1968 model aircraft was owned by William Cammack Junior of St. Paul, Minnesota.

Officials say the plane left Glendive yesterday afternoon for Minneapolis.

Two F-16s intercepted the plane in the Midwest, and flew alongside it until it crashed. The F-16s tried to get the pilot's attention by shooting flares during the flight, but weren't able to make contact.

[Rose Siding]

8. The OP identified the pilot

snip>
The pilot was the owner of the plane, William R. Cammack Jr., 56, of St. Paul, said his brother David Cammack. He owned an industrial cleaning chemical company and was flying home after a business trip.

Mostly, I found the report interesting because of how the CG planes had such a close watch on the event, as they did during Webber's last flight. -So different than on Sept 11.